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i^C(/ * To THE 

CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES, 

/ ^ , ^ PROVINa THAT THE 

doctrineIs advanced and the measures pursued 

BY THE 

ABOLITIONISTS, 

RELATIVE TO THE 

SUBJECT OF EMANCIPATION, 

ARE INCONSISTENT WITH 

?rhe JTcachtufis arttti Jilvectious ot tft? 3$ff)U, 

AND THAT THOSE 

engaged in the dissemination of these principles, 

SHOULD be immediately DISMISSED BY THEIR 
RESPECTIVE CONGREGATIONS, 

AS FALSE TEACHERS. 

:</ 

BY SIMON CL.OUGH, X>.D. liL.D. 

Pastor of the Christian Society, Fall River, Masa. 



.NEW-YORK> 

PUBLISHED BY A. K. BERTRON, 268, BOWERY. 
W. Mitchell, Printer, 2U5, Boweiy. 

1834. 






Entered according (o Act of Congress, In the year 1834, 

By SIMON CLOUGH, D.D. LL.D. 

In the Office of the Clerk of the Southern District of New. York. 



fstr 



t^ A 

CANDID APPEAIi, 



Fellow-Citizens : 

A Society, of a very extraordinary character, was 
organized in the month of December last, in the city of 
Philadelphia, known and designated by the name of the 
^^ JSTational Anti-Slavery Society. ^^ The Society has 
published and sent forth to the world a '* Declaration of 
Sentiments," including the " Designs and Measures" of 
the Society, and the objects they propose to accomplish. 
According to this Declaration, the following sentiments, 
principles, and measures, are distinctly avowed : — 

" We maintain, that in view of the civil and religious 
privileges of this nation, the guilt of its oppression is 
unequalled by any other on the face of the earth ; — and, 
therefore, that it is bound to repent instantly, to undo the 
heavy burden, to break every yoke, and to let the 
oppressed go free. 

" We further maintain, that every man has a right to 
his own body, to the products of his own labour, to the 
protection of law, and to the common advantages of 
society. It is piracy to buy or steal an African, and 
subject him to servitude. Surely the sin is as great to 
enslave an American as an African. That every American 
citizen, who retains a single human being in involuntaiy 
bondage, is, according to the Scripture, a man-stealer ; 
that the slaves ought to be instantly set free, and brought 
under the protection of law ; that all those laws which 



are now in force, admitting" the right of slavery, are, 
therefore, before God, utterly null and void ; being an 
audacious usurpation of the Divine prerogative, a daring 
infringement on the law of nature, a base overthrow of 
the very foundations of the social compact, a complete 
extinction of all the social relations, endearments, and 
obligations of mankind, and a presumptuous transgression 
of the holy commandments ; and that, therefore, they 
ought to be instantly abrogated. 

" We further affirm, that all persons of colour, who 
possess the necessary qualifications which are demanded 
of others, ought to be admitted forthwith to the enjoy- 
ment of the same privileges, and the exercise of the 
same prerogatives, as others ; and that the paths of 
preferment, of wealth, and of intelligence, should be 
opened as widely to them as to persons of a white 
complexion. 

*' We maintain that no compensation should be given 
to the planters emancipating their slaves. We regard as 
delusive, cruel, and dangerous, any scheme of expatria' 
tion, which pretends to aid, either directly or indirectly, 
in the emancipation of the slaves, or to be a substitute 
for the immediate and total abolition of slavery. This 
relation to slavery is criminal and full of danger ; it must 
be broken up. 

" We shall organize Anti-Slavery Societies, if possible, 
in every city, town, and village of our land. We shall 
send forth agents to lift up the voice of remonstrance, of 
warning, of entreaty, and rebuke. We shall circulate 
unsparingly and extensively, anti-slavery tracts and pe- 
riodicals. We shall enlist the pulpit and the press in the 
cause of the suffering and the dumb. We shall aim at a 
purification of the churches from all participation in the 
guilt of slaveiy. We shall encourage the labour of free- 
men over that of slaves, by giving a preference to their 
productions, and we shall spare no exertions nor means 
to bring the whole to a speedy repentance. 

" These are our views and principles — these our 
designs and measures, With entire confidence in the 



over-mling" justice of God, we plant ourselves upon the 
truths of divine revelation, as upon the everlasting rock." 

Such are the principles and designs of the Society, as 
set forth in the words of their own " Declaration," which 
was subsciibed by the members of the National Conven- 
tion, and under their express sanction published to the 
world. 

This Society has been organized under the special and 
particular direction of clergymen, who have been the 
active and efficient members of the Society since its 
organization: they have been the principal agents and 
orators who have addressed assemblies in the different 
sections of our country on this excitable topic. Having 
lain a train of powder in various directions through our 
widely-extended countiy, they propose to elicit a spark 
from heaven, and kindle one general conflagration through 
this w^idely-spreading Republic. Hence their constant 
appeals to Heaven, to God, and to the Bible, in support 
of their principles, and in justification of their measures. 
They use the most fieiy and excitable " language, and 
endeavour to bring all the moving and quickening in- 
fluences of Christianity to operate upon the minds of the 
community, for the purpose of enlisting them in the cause 
of abolition. 

It is not our intention, at this time, to go into a general 
discussion of the question of slavery, as it exists in this 
country, to either justify it, or to propose any remedy for 
it. We propose merely to show, that the doctrine, 
principles, and measures of the Anti-Slavery Society, as 
set forth in their " Declaration," are wholly inconsistent 
with the doctrine and teachings of the Bible on this 
subject, and that no Minister of the Gospel can con- 
sistently become a member of that Society, or advocate 
its measures. I wish here to be distinctly understood. 
The question at issue is not whether we shall continue 
the African slave trade, or whether we shall enslave the 
free coloured population of our country ; the question is 
simply concerning those who are now held in a state of 



6 

legal servitude. What is the duty of the Minister of the 
Gospel towards this class of our fellow-being-s, and what 
are the teaching's of the Bible on this sulDJect, which 
should be observed and enforced by eveiy Minister of 
the sanctuary. The doctrines and teachings of the Bible 
on this subject are a safe directory, and should be an 
infallible guide to eveiy Minister of Christ. We propose 
to inquire into the teachings and directions of the Old 
Testament on the subject of slavery, and then to ex- 
amine the New Testament respecting the teachings and 
directions of Jesus Christ and his Apostles on the same 
question, and the directions they have given the Ministers 
of the Gospel respecting slaves and slave-holders. 

In order, however, fully to understand and approve 
the doctrine of the Old Testament on the subject of 
slavery, it will be necessaiy to make some preliminary 
observations. 

Philosophers, who have made human society the 
subject of their speculations, have divided civil society 
into five c! asses. These classes of society include all 
the various civil conditions of men, from the most rude 
and barbarous, to the most civi]ized and cultivated. 

1. First class. In this state of society, the human 
species are in the lowest and rudest state ; their natural 
and mental powers are very faintly developed, but their 
external senses are acute, and their organs are active 
and vigorous. Hunting and fishing are the chief employ- 
ments on which they depend for support. During that 
portion of their time, which is not spent in these pursuits, 
they are sunk in listless indolence. Destitute of foresight, 
they are roused to active exertion only by the pressure 
of immediate necessity, or the urgent calls of appetite. 
Accustomed to endure the severity of the elements, and 
but scantily provided with the means of subsistence, they 
acquire habits of resignation and fortitude, which are 
b -beld with astonishment by those who enjoy the plenty 
and indulgence of civilized life. But in the state of want 
and depression, the milder affections are unknown ; or if 
the breast is at all sensible to their impulse, it is ex- 



tremely feeble. Husband and wife, parent and childj 
brother and sister, are vmited by the weakest ties. Want 
and misfortune are not pitied. Why, indeed, should 
they, where they cannot be relieved ? Of arts they are 
almost entirely destitute. They may use some insti-u- 
ments for fishing- and the chase; but these must be 
extremely simple and rude. If they are acquainted with 
any means to shelter themselves from the inclemency of 
the elements, both their houses and clothing will be 
awkward and inconvenient. 

2. Second class. But few human beings have been 
found in so rude a state as that which we have described. 
Even those tribes which we denominate savage, are, for 
the most part, farther removed from mere animal life. 
They generally appear united under some species of 
government, exercising the powers of reason, capable of 
morality, though that morality be not veiy refined ; dis- 
playing some degree of social virtue, and acting under 
the influence of religious sentiments. Persons in this 
state of society, however, are still to be found in the 
hvmting and fishing state ; but they are further advanced 
towards social life, and are become more sensible towards 
the impulse of social affections. We behold its members 
in a more comfortable condition, and find reason to view 
the human character with more complacency and respect. 
Huts are now built, more commodious, clothes are 
fashioned, instruments for the annoyance of wild beasts, 
and even of enemies, are contrived ; in short, arts and 
sciences, and social order, and religious sentiments, and 
ceremonies, now make their appearance in the rising 
society, and serve to characterize it by the particular 
form which distinguishes each of them. But though the 
social order is no longer unknown nor unobserved, yet 
the form of government is extremely simple, and its ties 
are but loose and feeble. In this state of society the 
principal distinction between the young and the old is 
experience ; if the old, however, have experience, the 
young have strength and activity. The whole tribe 
deliberate ; the old give their advice ; each individual of 



8 

the assembly receives or rejects it at pleasure ; and the 
warrior who is the most distinguished for strength, 
address, and valour, leads out the youth of the tribe to 
the chase, or against the enemy. War, which in the 
former state did not prevail, as they, who were strangers 
to the social sentiments, were at the same time scarcely 
capable of being enemies, now first begins to depopulate 
the thinly inhabited regions, where those hunters and 
fishers pursue their prey. They are scattered, possibly, 
in scanty and separate tribes, over an immense tract of 
countiy ; but they know no medium between the affec- 
tion which brethren of the same tribe bear to each other, 
and the hatred of enemies. Though thinly scattered 
over the earth, yet the hunting parties of the different 
tribes will sometimes meet as they range the forest ; and 
when they meet, they will naturally view each other 
with a jealous eye ; for the success of one party in the 
chase may cause the other to be unsuccessful ; and 
while the one snatches the prey, the other must return 
home to all the pangs of famine. Inveterate hostility 
will, therefore, long prevail among neighbouring tribes in 
the hunting state. 

3. Third class. In contemplating the third class of 
civilized society, we shall carry our views a little forward, 
and survey human life as approaching somewhat nearer 
to a civilized and enlightened state. As property is 
acquired, inequality and subordination of ranks neces- 
sarily follow ; and when men are no longer equal, the 
many are soon subjected to the will of the few. But 
what gives rise to these i^iew phenomena is, that after 
having suffered from the precariousness of the fishing 
and hunting state, men begin to extend their cares be- 
yond the present moment, and to think of providing some 
supply for future wants. When they are enabled to 
provide for such a supply, either by pursuing the chase 
with new eagerness and perseverance, by gathering the 
spontaneous fruits of the earth, or by breeding tame 
animals,, these acquisitions are at first the property of the 
whole society, and distributed from a common store to 



9 

each individual according- to his wants ; but as various 
reasons will soon concur to convince the community, 
that by this mode of distribution, industry and activity are 
treated with injustice, while neg-lig-ence and indolence 
receive more than their due, each individual will in a 
short time become his own steward, and a community of 
goods will be abolished. As soon as distinct ideas of 
property are formed, it must be unequally distributed ; 
and as soon as property is unequally distributed, there 
arises an inequality in ranks. Here we have the origin 
of the depression of the female sex in rude ages, of the 
tyrannical authority exercised by parents over their chil- 
dren, and of slavery. The women cannot display the 
same perseverance, or activity, or address, as the men in 
pursuing the chase ; they are, therefore, left at home ; 
and from that moment are no longer equals, but slaves 
and dependents, who must subsist by the bounty of the 
males, and must, therefore, submit with implicit obedience 
to all their capricious commands. Even before the era 
of property, the female sex were viewed as inferiors ; 
but till that period they were not reduced to a state of 
abject slavery. 

In this period of society new notions are formed of the 
relative duties. Men now become citizens, masters, and 
servants ; husbands, parents, &c. It is impossible to 
enumerate all the various modes of government which 
take place among the tribes who have advanced to this 
stage ; but one thing is certain, that the authority of the 
few over the many is now first established, and that the 
rise of property first introduces inequality of ranks. In 
one place, we shall find the community subjected during 
this period to the will of a single person ; in another, 
power may be lodged in the hands of a number of chiefs ; 
and in a third, every individual may have a voice in 
creating public officers, and in enacting laws for the 
support of public order. But as no code of laws is 
formed during this period, justice is not very impartially 
administered, nor are the rights of individuals veiy faith- 
fully guarded. Many actions, which will afterwards be 

2 



10 

considered as heinously immoral, are now considered as 
praiseworthy or indifferent. This is the ag-e of hero 
Worship, and of household and tutelar gods ; for it is in 
this stag-e of society that the invention of arts, which g^ave 
rise to that worship, contributes most conspicuously to 
the public g-ood. War, too, which we consider as be- 
ginning- first to ravage the earth during the former period, 
and which is another cause of the deification of dead 
men, will still prevail in this age, and be carried on 
with no less ferocity than before, though in a more 
systematic form. 

4. Fourth class. But let us contemplate our species 
in a new light, as having acquired greater dignity and 
anaiableness of character. Let us view them as hus- 
bandmen, artisans, and legislators. Whatever circum- 
stances might turn the attention of any people from 
hunting to agriculture, or cause the herdsman to yoke his 
oxen for the cultivation of the ground, certain it is that 
this occupation would produce a happy change on the 
character and circumstances of men, it would oblige them 
to exert a more regular and persevering industry. The 
hunter is like one of those birds that are described as 
passing the winter in a torpid state. The shepherd's 
life is extremely indolent. Neither of these is very 
favourable to refinement. But different is the condition 
of the husbandman. His labours succeed each other in 
regular rotation through the year. Each season with 
him has its proper employments ; he, therefore, must 
exert active, persevering industry ; and in this state we 
often find the virtues of rude and polished nations united. 
This is the period where barbarism ends and civilization 
begins. Nations have existed for ages in the hunting 
and shepherd state, fixed as by a kind of stagnation, 
without advancing further. But scarce any instances 
occur in the history of mankind of those who once 
reached the state of husbandmen, remaining long in that 
condition without rising to a more civilized and polished 
state. Where a people turn their attention in any 
considerable degree to the objects of agriculture, a dis- 



11 

tinction of occupations naturally arises among* them. The 
husbandman is so constantly employed throug-h the 
several seasons of the year in the labours of the 
field, that he has no longer leisure to exercise all the 
rude arts known among- his countrymen. He has not 
time to fashion the instruments of husbandry, to prepare 
his clothes, to build his house, to manufacture household 
utensils, or to tend those tame animals which he con- 
tinues to rear. These ditTerent departments now begin 
to employ different persons ; each of whom dedicates his 
whole time and attention to his own occupation. The 
manufacture of cloth is for some time managed exclu- 
sively by the women ; but smiths and carpenters arise 
among the men. Metals begin now to be considered as 
valuable materials. The intercourse of mankind is now 
placed on a new footing. Before, every individual prac- 
tised all the arts that were known, as far as was neces- 
sary for supplying himself with the conveniences of life. 
Now he confines himself to one or two of them ; and, in 
order to obtain a necessary supply of the productions of 
those arts, which he does not cultivate himself, he gives 
in exchange a part of the productions of his own labours. 
Here we have the origin of commerce. In process of 
time commerce gives birth to currency, which serves as 
a medium of the exchange of property. 

One of the noblest changes which the introduction of 
the arts by agriculture produces on the form and circum- 
stances of society, is the introduction of regular govern- 
ment and laws. In tracing- the history of ancient nations, 
we scarce ever find laws introduced at an earlier period. 
Minon, Solon, Lycurgus, do not appear to have formed 
codes of wisdom and justice for regulating the manners of 
their countrymen, till after the Cretans, the Athenians, 
and the Lacedemonians, had made some progress in 
agriculture and the useful arts. 

Religion, under all its various forms, has in eveiy stage 
of society a mighty influence on the sentiments and con- 
duct of men ; and the arts cultivated in society have, on 
the other hand, some influence on the system of religious 



12 

belief. One linppy effect which will result from the 
invention of arts, though perhaps not immediately, will be 
to render the characters of the deities more benevolent 
and amiable, and the rites ol' their worshijj more mild and 
humane. 

The female sex in this period generally find the yoke 
of their slavery somewhat lightened. Men now become 
easier in their circumstances ; the social affections assume 
stronger influences over the mind ; plenty, and security, 
and ease, at once communicate both delicacy and keen- 
ness to the sensual desires. All these circumstances 
concur to make men relax, in some degree, that tyrannic 
sway by which they before depressed the softer sex. 
The foundation of that empire, where beauty triumphs 
over both wisdom and strenjrth, now begins to be laid, 
buch are the effects which history warrants us to attri- 
bute to agriculture and the arts ; and such the outlines of 
the character of tliat which we reckon the fourth stage in 
the progress of society from rudeness to refinement. 

5. Fifth class: Let us advance one step further. We 
have not surveyed mankind in their most polished and 
cultivated state. Society is rude at the period when the 
arts first begin to show themselves, in comparison of that 
state to which it is raised by the industrious cultivation 
of them. The useful arts are first cultivated with such 
steady industiy as to raise the community to opulence, 
and to furnish them with articles for commerce with 
foreign nations. The useful arts cannot be raised to this 
height, without leading man to the pursuit of science. 
Commerce with foreign nations, skill in the useful arts, 
and a taste for science, naturally aid each other, and 
conspire to improve the fine arts. Hence magnificent 
buildings, noble statues, paintings expressive of life, 
action, and passion, and poems in which imagination 
adds new graces and solemnity to nature, and gives the 
appearances of life more irresistible power over the 
affections of the heart. Hence are moral distinctions 
more carefully studied, and the rights of every individual 
and of every order in society better understood and more 



13 

accurately defined. Moral sciehce is generally the first 
scientific pursuit which strong-ly attracts the attention of 
men. Accordingly, when we view the state of literature 
in this period, we perceive that poetry, history, and 
morals, are the branches chiefly cultivated. Arts are 
usually casual inventions, and long practised before rules 
and principles on which they are founded assume the 
form of science. But morality, if considered as an art, is 
that art which men have soonest and most constantly 
occasion to practice. Besides, we are so constituted by 
the wisdom of nature, that human actions, and the events 
which befal human beings, have more powerful influence 
than any other object to engage and fix our attention. 
Hence we are enabled to explain why morality, and 
those branches of literature more immediately connected 
with it, are almost always cultivated in preference to 
physical science. 

This is the period when human virtue and human 
abilities shine w^ith most splendour. Rudeness, ferocity, 
£ind barbarism, are now banished. Luxury has made 
her appearance ; but as yet she is the friend and the 
benefactress of society. Commerce has stimulated and 
rewarded industiy, but has not yet contracted the heart 
and debased the character. Wealth is not yet become 
the sole object of pursuit. The charms of social inter- 
course are known and relished ; but domestic duties are 
not yet deserted for public amusements. The female 
sex acquire new influence, and contribute much to refine 
and polish the manners of their lords. Religion now 
assumes a milder and more pleasing form ; splendid rites, 
magnificent temples, pompous sacrifices, and gay fes- 
tivals, give even superstition an influence favourable to 
the happiness of mankind. The gloomy notions and 
barbarous rites of former periods fall into disuse. Phi- 
losophy teaches men to discard such parts of their 
religion as are unfriendly to good morals, and have any 
tendency to call forth or cherish unsocial sentiments in 
the heart. 

War, which is prosecuted in this state of society, no 



14 

long-er retains its former ferocity ; nations no long-er strive 
to extirpate one another ; to humble, not to destroy, is 
now the object. Prisoners are no longer murdered in 
cold blood, subjected to horrid and excruciating tortures, 
or condemned to hopeless slavery. They are ransomed 
or exchanged ; they return to their country, and again 
fight under her banners. In this period the arts of 
government are likewise better understood, and prac- 
tised so as to contribute most to the interests of society. 
Whether monarchy, or democracy, or aristocracy, be the 
established form, the rights of individuals and of society 
are in general respected. The interests of society are 
so well understood, that the few, in order to preserve 
their influence over the many, find it necessary to act 
rather as the faithful servants than the imperious lords of 
the public. Though the liberties of a nation in this state 
be not accurately defined by law, nor their property 
guaranteed by any legal institutions, yet their governors 
dare not violate their liberties, nor deprive them wantonly 
of their property. This is regarded as the golden age of 
society : every trace of barbarism is effaced, and vicious 
luxury has not yet begun to sap the virtue and happiness 
of the community. Men live not in listless indolence ; 
but the industry in which they are engaged is not of such 
a nature as to overpower their strength, or exhaust their 
spirits. The social affections have now the strongest 
influence on men's sentiments and conduct. 

But human affairs are scarce ever stationary. The 
circumstances of mankind are almost always changing, 
either growing better or worse. Their manners are ever 
in the same fluctuating state. They either advance 
towards perfection, or degenerate. Scarce have they 
attained that happy period in which we have contem- 
plated them, when they begin to decline, till they perhaps 
fall back into a state nearly as low as that from which 
we suppose them to have emerged. Instances of this 
unhappy degeneracy occur more than once in the history 
of mankind ; and we may finish this short sketch of the 
histoiy of society by mentioning in what manner this 



15 

degeneracy takes place. Perhaps, strictly speaking*, 
eveiy thing but the simple necessaries of life may be 
denominated luxury : for a long time, however, the wel- 
fare of society is best promoted, while its members aspire 
after something more than the mere necessaries of life^ 
As long as these superfluities are to be obtained only by 
active and honest exertions ; as long as they only engage 
the leisure hours without becoming the chief objects of 
pursuit, the employment which they give to the faculties 
is favourable both to the virtues and the happiness of the 
human race. 

The period arrives, however, when luxury is no longer 
serviceable to the interests of the nations ; when she is 
no longer a graceful, elegant, active form, but a languid^ 
overgrown, and bloated carcase. It is the love of luxury, 
w^hich contributed so much to the civilization of society, 
that now brings on its decline. Arts are cultivated and 
improved, and commerce extended, till enormous opu- 
lence be acquired : the effect of opulence is to awake 
the fancy, to conceive ideas of new and capricious wants, 
and to inflame the breast with new desires. Here we 
have the origin of the selfishness which, operating in 
conjunction with caprice, and the violence of unbridled 
passions, contributes so much to virtuous manners. Sel- 
fishness, caprice, indolence, effeminacy, all join to loosen 
the bonds of society, to bring on the degeneracy both of 
the useful and fine arts, to banish at once the mild and 
austere virtues, to destroy civil order and subordination, 
and to introduce in their room anarchy and despotism. 

History furnishes us with numerous examples of the 
declining state of society. The Assyrians, the Egyptians, 
and the Persians, were all of them once flourishing 
nations, but have been brought low by luxury and an 
unhappy corruption of manners. The Greeks, the Ro- 
mans, and the Arabians, owed their fall to the same 
causes ; and some of the European nations seem to be 
rapidly treading in their downward steps. The Portu- 
guese, the Venetians, and the Spaniards, have already 
fallen, and some other nations are on the decline. 



16 

Tlie most striking- example, however, of the declining 
state of society with which we are furnished by modern 
history, is St. Doming-o, one of the West India islands. 
This astonishing change in the decline of society on that 
island, is owing to the revolution of 1789. In this revo- 
lution the civil government passed out of the hands of the 
white into the coloured population, and the condition of 
slavery ceased on the island. The exports of this island, 
from January 1, 17S9, to December 31 of the same year, 
were 47,516,531 lbs. white sugar; 93,573,300 lbs. brown 
sugar ; 76,835,219 lbs. coffee ; 7,004,274 lbs. cotton ; 
758,628 lbs. indigo ; and other articles, as tanned hides, 
molasses, spirits, &c. to the value of 46,873 livres. The 
value of all these articles taken together was nearly fifty 
millions of dollars. At the present time there is not one 
sugar, coffee, or cotton plantation on the island. There 
is now exported from the island about 5,000,000 lbs. of 
inferior coffee, which grows vv^ild, and is picked up by 
the inhabitants off the ground, whence it falls after it 
becomes ripe. The inhabitants are so indolent, that it 
has become necessary to declare it under martial law, 
and use a military force to compel the inhabitants to 
labour during certain hours of the day. 

From the foregoing observations it will appear evident, 
that when we speak of any state or condition of society, 
we use the word comparatively, as referring to some 
other state or condition of society, either better or worse, 
as the case may be. All states and conditions of society 
are essentially imperfect, and must necessarily remain so, 
from the imperfection of the elements of which they are 
composed. One nation is necessarily rude and uncul- 
tivated, from the character of its individual members, 
while another is polished and refined, because it is com- 
posed of men whose minds are improved and cultivated. 
The character of society must be determined by the 
state of the individuals of whom it is composed. Indivi- 
duals of the human species, while in the lowest and rudest 
state, can never be formed into polished society, where 
arts, and science, and commerce, and manufactories, and 



ir 

agriculture flourish, any more than the roug-h materials 
of nature, without first being- prepared, can be incor- 
porated into a magnificent building. The stones of 
which the Temple was composed, were reduced to 
proper shape and size, before they were united together 
in that noble structure, which was the pride and glory of 
the Jewish nation. In like manner, the individuals of 
whom society is composed, must be properly trained and 
cultivated before they can be incorporated into civil 
society with any advantage to themselves, or benefit to 
the community. If an opposite course should be pur- 
sued, all civilized society would be broken down, as 
when the northern hordes over-run Europe, and bar- 
barism again assumed her iron sway. 

It should also be observed that the most rude and 
barbarous state of society does not admit of the condition 
of slavery. Mankind must have made considerable im- 
provement before the state of society will admit the 
condition of slavery. Men must have acquired an idea 
of property before the necessary distinction in society 
can make its appearance, which g-ives birth to slavery. 
Perhaps no state of society is more favourable to the 
condition of slavery than that of the patriarchal. When 
men lived together under this form of government, they 
employed themselves chiefly in tending flocks and 
herds. Children in such circumstances cannot soon 
rise to an equality with their parents, where a man's 
importance depends on his property, and not on his 
abilities. When flocks and herds are the chief articles 
of property, the son can only obtain these from his 
father ; in general, the son, therefore, must be entirely 
dependent on the father for the means of subsistence. If 
the parent during his life bestow on his children any part 
of his property, he may do it on such conditions as shall 
make their dependence on him continue till the period of 
his death. When the community by this event are 
deprived of their head, instead of continuing in a state of 
union, and selecting some one from among- themselves, 
whom they may invest with the authority of a parent, 

3 



18 

they separate into so many distinct tribes, each subjected 
to the authority of a different lord, the master of the 
family, and the proprietor of all the flocks and herds 
belonging to it. Under such a form of government, all de- 
pendents are necessarily reduced to the condition of 
slaveiy. This condition of slavery, however, is more 
desirable than the more rude and barbarous state of 
society which we have described. 

Having made these preliminary remarks, we shall 
now proceed to inquire into the doctrine and teachings of 
the Bible on the subject of slavery. In order, however, 
fully to understand the Bible on this subject, it will be 
necessary to inquire into the import of several words, 
which ai-e employed by the sacred writers when speaking 
on the subject of slavery. 

{Servant. We but seldom meet with the word slave 
in the common version. Hence it is supposed by some, 
that there is no word in the original Scriptures, either in 
the Greek or Hebrew, answering to the word slave in 
the English. But this is a mistake. The translators 
have employed the -word servant in the common version, 
not because it conveys a different idea from the woiti 
slave, but because it is a softer term. The English word 
servant comes from the Latin word servus, Avhich is 
derived from servare, " to preserve," and signifies, not a 
hired servant, but a slave. Such men were called by 
the Romans servi, because they w^ere captives, whose 
lives were preserved on the condition of their becoming 
the property of the victor. Since slavery ceased in 
England, this word has acquired by time a softer signi- 
fication, and is now generally employed to designate an 
obedient attendant. 

Doidos. The Greek word doulosy which answers to 
the Hebrew word «6«r, literally signifies a slave. Dr. 
Parkhurst gives the following definition of this word : 
" one in a servile state ; a servant or slave. ''^ Of the 
wretched condition of slaves, according to the laws and 
customs of the Romans, a late learned writer, Dr. John 
Taylor, gives us a delineation : 



19 

" The common lot of slaves in generaly^ says he, 
** was, with the ancients, in many circumstances, very 
deplorable. Of their situation take the following in- 
stances. They were held pro nullis, pro mortuis, pro 
quadrupedibus, for no men, for dead men, for beasts ; 
nay, were in a much worse state than any cattle what- 
ever. They had no head in the state, no name, no 
register, no tribe. They were not capable of being 
injured ; had no heirs, and therefore could make no will 
of course. Exclusive of what is called their peculium, 
whatever they acquired was their master's ; they could 
not plead nor be pleaded, but were excluded from all 
civil concerns whatever ; — were not entitled to the rights 
and considerations of matrimony ; nor were the proper 
objects of cognation, nor affinity ; — they could be sold, 
transferred, or pawned as goods, or personal estate ; 
for goods they were, and such were they esteemed ; 
might be tortured for evidence ; punished at the discretion 
of their lord, and even put to death by his authority ; 
together with many other civil incapacities, which I have 
not room to enumerate." The description which is here 
given of slavery, according to the Roman law, will 
enable us to enter into the full meaning of several pas- 
sages in the New Testament, particularly in the Epistles 
of St. Paul. 

The word doulos, in the New Testament, is used in a 
religious as well as in a political or civil sense. " The 
word doulos,''^ says Dr. Clark, (Com. on Rom. I. 1.), 
"which we translate servant, properly means a slave, 
one who is the entire property of his master ; and is used 
here by the Apostle with great propriety. He felt he 
was not his own, and that his life and poivers belonged 
to his heavenly owner, and that he had no right to dis- 
pose of, or employ them, but in the strictest subserviency 
to the will of his Lord. In this sense, and in this spirit, 
he is the willing slave of Jesus Christ, and this is, per- 
haps, the highest character which any soul of man can 
attain on this side of eternity. " 1 am wholly the Lord's ; 
and wholly devoted in the spirit of sacrificial obedience to 



20 

the constant, complete, and energetic performance of the 
divine will." A friend of God is high ; a son of God is 
higher ; but the servant^ or, in the above sense, the 
slave of God, is higher than all ; in a Avord, he is a per- 
son who feels he has no property in himself, and that 
God is all, and in all." 

Thus, St. Paul, in reference to the custom of pur- 
chasing slaves, on whose heads a price was then fixed, 
just as upon any other commodity, and who, when 
bought, were the entire and unalienable property of the 
purchaser, by a very beautiful and expressive similitude, 
represents Christians as the servants, slaves of Christ ; 
informs them that an immense price has been paid for 
them ; that they were not at their own disposal ; but in 
every respect, both as to body and mind, were the sole 
and absolute property of God. '* Ye are not your own ; 
for ye are bought with a price : therefore glorify God in 
your body and in your spirit, which are God's." I. Cor. 
vi. 20.) St. Paul usually styles hmiself the servant, or 
slave, of Christ ; and in a passage in his Epistle to the 
Galatians, alluding to the signatures w^ith which slaves in 
those days were branded, he tells them, he carried about 
with him plain and indelible characters impressed in his 
body, which evinced him to be the servant, or slave, of 
his master Jesus. " From henceforth let no man trouble 
me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." 
(Gal. vi. 17.) 

Misthios. The Greek word misthios, which answers 
to the Hebrew word shabyr, signifies a hired servant, a 
hireling, in contradistinction to a slave. These words 
are all rendered in the common version by the word 
servant, which signifies, as we have already observed, 
either a slave, or a hired attendant. The word misthios 
is used in the parable of the prodigal son, who said, 
** How many hired servants of my father's have bread 
enough, and to spare, and I perish with hunger." Hence 
he resolved on his return, to petition his father to make 
him as one of his hired servants. The condition of a 
hired servant was, in many respects, worse than that of 



21 

a household slave. It is, therefore, supposed that our 
Lord used the word misthios, instead of doulos, to point 
out the depth of the wretchedness and miseiy to which 
the prodigal son was reduced. Slaves not only had the 
advantage, in many respects, over a hired servant, but in 
Gorae respects over the children of freemen ; for, accord- 
ing to the Roman law, a slave could not be sold but 
once, whereas a child could be sold three times. 

We shall now proceed to inquire into the teachings of 
the Bible on the great question of slavery ; and we shall, 
in the first place, examine the Old Testament on this 
subject. 

The first place ^vhere the word slave occurs in any 
known language is in the Bible. It is used in the 
famous oracle uttered by Noah respecting the descend- 
ants of Ham. " And he said, cursed be Canaan, a 
servant of sei-vants shall he be unto his brethren." (Gen. 
ix. 25.) The original word which is here employed 
properly signifies a slave, and points out the nature of the 
curse which, in the course of time, was to fall upon the 
descendants of Ham. From the use of the word in this 
oracle, it has been inferred that slavery existed among 
the Antediluvians ; but whether this be, or be not, a fact, 
we have no positive information. 

Slavery appears to have veiy generally prevailed in 
the age of Abraham. That patriarch had three hundred 
and eighteen servants, literally slaves, born in his own 
house, and trained to arms, with whom he pursued and 
vanquished the four kings who had taken captive his 
brother's son. (Gen. xiv. 14) And it appears from the 
conversation which took place between him and the king 
of Sodom after the battle, both believed the conqueror 
had a right to consider his prisoners as a part of the spoil. 
"Give me," says the king, " the persons, and take the 
goods to thyself." (Ver. 21.) It is indeed evident from 
numberless passages of Scripture, that the domestics 
whom our translators call servants, were in those days 
universally considered as the most valuable part of their 
masters* property, and classed with his flocks and herds. 



22 

Thus when the sacred historian describes the weahh of 
Abraham, he says, " That he had sheep and oxen, 
and men-servants and maid-servants, and camels*" (Gen. 
xxiv. 35.) And when Abimelech wished to make some 
reparation to the patriarch for the unintentional injury he 
had done him, " He took sheep and oxen, and men-ser- 
vants, and women-servants, and gave them to Abraham, 
and restored to him Sarah his wife." (Gen. xx. 14.) 
The riches and power of Isaac and Jacob are estimated 
in the very same way. Of the former it is said, " The 
man w^axed great, and went forward and g-rew, until he 
became very great, for he had possessions of flocks and 
possessions of herds, and great store of sei'vants, literally 
slaves J and the Philistines envied him." (Gen. xxvi. 13, 
14.) The latter we are told, '* Increased exceedingly, 
and had much cattle, and men-servants, and maid-ser- 
vants, and camels." (Gen. xxx. 43.) 

The patriarchal form of government, as we have seen, 
included the condition of slavery, and was highly favour- 
able to that state of society. And it is highly probable 
that the governments which existed under the patriarchs, 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were the best governments 
in the world which existed at that time. And it is 
believed that the condition of the slaves of these patri- 
archs, when compared with the condition of the sur- 
rounding nations, was highly enviable. They were 
taught the knowledge and instructed into the worship of 
the true God — their employment was of a rural cha- 
racter, attending the herds and flocks of their masters. 
All their temporal wants were well supplied ; they were 
freed from the restless cares and corroding anxieties of 
the world ; they were well satisfied and contented with 
their condition as slaves, otherwise they would not have 
been entrusted with arms. 

According to the doctrine of the Abolitionists, these 
very patriarchs should be ranked among the most wicked 
and abominable men, for they held property in man ; they 
deprived their fellow-men of their natural rights ; they 
degraded them to a level with brutes, and reckoned them 



23 

as so much property along* with their sheep and oxen ; 
that they were living in the daily habit and practice of 
sin, in thus detaining- their fellow-men in bondag-e ; that it 
was their duty, their indispensable duty, to have liberated 
all their slaves at once, let the consequences have been 
what they might ; nay, that these very patriarchs were 
all man stealers, and deserved death. 

But the character which is given of Abraham in the 
Bible is very different. In the sacred volume he is 
represented as being the friend of God — as the father and 
pattern of the faithful — as one who, with joy unspeak- 
able, foresaw the coming of the Messiah — as a noted 
possessor of the heavenly glory. There is not a saint 
whose name is recorded in the Old Testament, whose 
reputation stands higher than that of Abraham, for piety, 
integrity, and virtue, notwithstanding he was a slave- 
holder. And there is not a passage in the whole Bible, 
which intimates that God disapprobated his conduct in 
holding slaves. It indeed was a virtue, instead of a vice, 
in the conduct of Abraham. He became occasionally 
involved in war with the surrounding nations, and while 
they offered up their prisoners of war in sacrifice to their 
false divinities, Abraham adopted his as slaves, taught 
them the knowledge and worship of the true God, and 
supplied all their temporal wants. This course of con- 
duct was an amiable trait in his character, and evinces to 
every reflecting man, that, instead of his being an abo- 
minable sinner, he was an enlightened saint. 

But would it not have been a virtue in Abraham to 
have liberated all his slaves, and made freemen of them ? 
I answer no, it would not ; Abraham had engrossed all 
the wealth of the community, and all the members of the 
community were, therefore, entirely dependent upon him 
for support. As he was the legal owner of all the pro- 
perty of the community, it was a much better order of 
things for him to remain lord of the community, by which 
he was under obligation to supply all the temporal wants 
of the community in all the vicissitudes of life. These 
slaves were incapable of self-government, and had he 



24 

have liberated them, they would, probably, have relapsed 
into idolatry, and become an easy prey to the surrounding- 
nations. I have no hesitation in saying, that, in my 
judgment, their condition would have been rendered 
infinitely worse, had they been liberated, than what it 
was to remain in a state of servitude to the patriarch. 
Abraham sustained to his slaves the relation of a law- 
giver, a ruler, a judge, a protector, a benefactor, a father, 
a religious teacher, and a master. It was certainly much 
better for his slaves to have remained under his mild and 
paternal government, than what it would have been to be 
made free, and then to have supported, protected, and 
defended themselves, the best way they could. 

That the practice of buying and selling serv^ants, thus 
early begun among the patriarchs, descended to their 
posterity, is known to every attentive reader of the Bible. 
It was expressly authorized by the Jewish law. " Both 
thy bond-men and bond-maids," says Moses, " shall be of 
the heathen that are round about you : of them shall ye 
buy bond-men and bond-maids. And ye shall take them 
as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit 
them for a possession ; they shall be your bond-men for 
ever." (Lev. xxv. 39.) 

Accordinsr to the law of Moses, there were several 
ways of legally acquiring slaves. 

1. By captivity. Captivity is supposed to have been 
the first origin of slaveiy. According to the law of Moses, 
the Jews w^ere to make slaves of their captives. " When 
thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then 
proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be, if it make thee 
answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, 
that all the people that is found therein, shall be tributaries 
unto thee, and they shall serve thee. And if it will make 
no peace with thee, but will war against thee, then thou 
shalt besiege it : and when the Lord thy God hath 
delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male 
thereof with the edge of the sword : but the women, and 
the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city. 



25 

even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; 
and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies." (Deut. 
XX. 10, 14.) 

2. By dcbty when persons being poor were sold for 
the payment of their debts. *' The creditor is come to 
take my two sons for bondmen." (2. Kings, iv. 1.) 

3. By committing a theft, without the power of 
making restitution. "If a thief be found breaking up, he 
should make full restitution ; if he have nothing, then he 
shall be sold for his theft." (Exodus, xxii. 23.) 

4. By birth, when persons were born of married slaves. 
These are termed bor7i in the house. "And when 
Abraham heard that his brother was taken captive, he 
armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three 
hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan." 
(Gen. xiv. 14.) They are also said to be home-born. 
" Is Israel a servant ? Is he a home-born slave ? why 
is he spoiled?" (Jer. ii. 14.) 

5. By purchase with money. " And Abraham took 
Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and 
all that were bought with his money, every male among 
the men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of 
their foreskin in the self-same day, as God had said unto 
him." ((jlen. xvii. 23.) 

Notwithstanding these legal methods of acquiring 
slaves, the Jews were strictly forbidden from acquiring 
such property by any other than fair means. " He that 
stealeth a man," said their lawgiver, " shall surely be put 
to death." (Lev. xxi. 16.) 

As slavery was legalized by the law of Moses, so 
various statutes were passed to regulate the conduct of 
the master towards his slave. 

. 1. The master was to provide food and raiment for the 
slave, and to treat him with humanity. '' And if thy 
brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold 
unto thee ; thou shall not compel him to serve as a bond- 
servant : but as a hired servant, and as a sojourner, he 
shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of 
Jubilee : and then shall he depart from thee, both he and 

4 



26 

his children with him, and shall return unto his own 
family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he 
return." (Levit. xxv. 39, 41.) This passage indeed 
speaks expressly of slaves who were of the Hebrew 
descent. The law regulating- the conduct of masters 
towards alien-born slaves was, in some respects, different, 
and admitted of more rigour. *' Both thy bond-men, and 
thy bond-maids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the 
heathen that are round about; of them shall ye buy 
bond-men, and bond-maids. Moreover of the children of 
the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall 
ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which 
they begat in your land : and they shall be your posses- 
sion : and ye shall take them as an inheritance for your 
children after you, to inherit them as a possession ; they 
shall be your bond-men for ever ; but over your brethren 
the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another 
with rigour." (Levit. xxv. 44, 46.) 

2. If a master struck a slave with a rod or staff, and 
the servant died under his hand, he was to be punished 
by the magistrate ; if, however, the slave survived a day 
or two, the master was to go unpunished, as no intention 
of murder could be presumed, and the loss of the slave 
was deemed a sufficient punishment. " If a man smite 
his sei-vant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his 
hand ; he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if 
he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished : for 
he is his money." (Exodus xxi. 20, 21.) 

S. If a slave lost an eye or a tooth from a blow of the 
master, such a slave acquired liberty. " If a man smite 
the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it 
perish ; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake. And 
if a man smite out his man-servant's tooth, or his maid- 
servant's tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth's 
sake." (Exodus xxi. 26, 27.) 

4. Slaves were to rest on the Sabbath, and on the 
great festivals. " Six days shalt thou labour, and do all 
thy work ; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the 
Lord thy God : in it thou shalt not do any work, thou nor 



27 

thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy 
maid-servant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy 
cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates ; that thy 
man-servant, and thy maid-servant, may rest as well as 
thou. And remember that thou wast a servant in the 
land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee 
out thence through a mighty hand, and by a stretched 
out arm, therefore the Lord thy God commanded 
thee to keep the Sabbath-day." (Deuteronomy v. 13, 
15.) In order to induce the Jews more particularly to 
observe this law, regulating the conduct of the master 
towards the slave, he reminds them of their condition of 
slaves in Egypt, when they did not enjoy any rest of the 
Sabbath, but were compelled to work eveiy day in the 
week. 

5. They were to be invited to certain feasts. " Thou 
mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy com, or 
of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds, or 
of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor 
thy free-will-offerings, or heave-offerings of thine hand : 
but thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the 
place which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou, and thy 
son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid- 
servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates." (Deut. 
xii. 17, 18.) " And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks 
unto the Lord thy God with a tribute of a free-will 
offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the 
Lord thy God, according as the Lord thy God has 
blessed thee : and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy 
Grod, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man- 
servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is 
within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, 
and the widow, that are among you, in the place which 
the Lord thy God has chosen to place his name there.** 
(Deut. xvi. 10, 11.) 

6. A master who had betrothed a female slave to 
himself, if she did not please him, was to permit her to 
be redeemed, and was prohibited from selling her to a 
strange nation, seeing that he had dealt deceitfully with 



2S 

her. If he had betrothed her to his son, he was to deal 
with her after the manner of daughters. If he took 
another wife, her food, raiment, and duty of marriage, he 
was not to diminish. And if he did not these three unto 
her, then she was to go out (ree without money. " If a 
man sell his daughter to be a maid-servant, she shall not 
go out as the men-servants do. If she please not her 
master, who hath betrothed her to himself, than shall he 
let her be redeemed : to sell her to a strange nation he 
shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully 
with her. And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he 
shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. If he 
take him another wife, her food, her raiment, and her 
duty of marriage, shall he not diminish. And if he do 
not these three unto her, then shall she go out free 
without money." ^(Exodus, xxi. 7, 11.) 

7. Hebrew slaves were to continue in servitude only 
till the year of Jubilee, when they might return to liberty, 
and their master could not detain them against their 
wills. If they were desirous of continuing with their 
master, they were to be brought to the judges, before 
whom they were to make a declaration that for this time 
they disclaimed the privilege of the law ; and had their 
ears bored through with an awl against the door-posts of 
their masters' houses, after which they had no power of 
recovering their liberty until the next year of jubilee, 
after forty-nine years. *' If the servant shall plainly say, 
I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not 
go out free; then his master shall bring him unto the 
judges; he shall also biing him to the door, or unto the 
door-post ; and his master shall bore his ear through 
with an awl ; and he shall serve him for ever." (Deut. 
xxi. 5, 6.) This significant ceremony implied that they 
were closely attached to that house and family ; and that 
they were bound to hear, and punctually obey, all their 
master's orders. This law did not extend to alien-born 
slaves ; it only regarded Hebrew slaves. 

8. If a Hebrew by birth was sold to a stranger, or an 
alien dwelling in the vicinity of the land of Judea, his 



29 

relations were to redeem him, and such a slave was to 
make g-ood the purchase money if he were able, paying in 
proportion to the number of years that remained, until the 
year of Jubilee. "And if a sojourner or strang-er Wax 
rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax 
poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by 
thee, or to the stock of die stranger's family : after that 
he is sold he may be redeemed again ; one of his brethren 
may redeem him : either his uncle, or his uncle's son, 
may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of 
his family may redeem him ; or if he be able he may 
redeem himself. And he shall reckon with him that 
bought him, from the year that he was sold to him, unto 
the year of Jubilee ; and the price of his sale shall be ac- 
cording to the number of years, according to the time of a 
hired serv^ant shall it be with him. If there be yet many 
years behind, according unlo them shall he give again 
the price of his redemption out of the money that he was 
bought for. And if there remain but few yeais unto the 
year of Jubilee, then he shall count with him, and accord- 
ing unlo his years shall he give him again the price of his 
redemption. And as a yearly hired servant shall he be 
with him, and the other shall not rule with rigour over 
him in thy sight. And if he be not redeemed in these 
years, then he shall go out in the year of Jubilee, both 
he, and his children with him." (Levit. xxv. 47, 54.) 

9. If the slave of another nation fled to the Hebrews, 
he was to be received hospitably, and on no account 
given up to Viis master. '' Thou shalt not deliver unto 
his master the servant which is escaped from his master 
unto thee ; he shall dwell with thee, even among you, in 
that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, 
where it liketh him best : thou shalt not oppress him." 
(Deut. xxiii. 15, 16.) 

Beside these general laws, by which slavery was 
reofulated among the Hebrews, there were other regula- 

IT 

tions and customs that prevailed among the Jews re- 
specting slaveiy. 

AU the property which slaves acquired belonged to 



30 

their masters, hence they are said to be worth double the 
value of hired servants. " It shall not seem hard, when 
thou sendest him away free from thee ; for he hath been 
worth a double hired servant to thee." (Deut. xv. 18.) 

They formed marriages at the will of their master ; 
but their children were slaves, who, although they could 
not call him a father, yet they were attached and faithful 
to him as a father, on which account the patriarchs 
trusted them with arms. 

If a married Hebrew sold himself, he was to serve for 
six years, and in the seventh he was to go out free, 
together with his wife and children : but if his master had 
given one of his slaves to him as a wife, she was to 
remain, with her children, as the property of her master." 
*' If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall 
sei*ve : and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. 
If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If 
he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. Jf 
his master gave him a wife, and she have borne him sons 
or daughters ; the wife and the children shall be her 
master's, and he shall go out by himself." (Exod. 35xi, 
2, 4.) 

The duty of slaves was to execute their lord's com- 
mands, and they were for the most part employed in 
Jtending cattle, or in rural affairs ; and, though the lot of 
some of them was sufficiently hard, yet under a mild and 
humane master, it was tolerable. " If I did despise the 
cause of my man-servant, or of my maid servant, when 
they contended with me ; what then shall I do when 
God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I 
answer him?" (Job, xxxi, 13, 14.) 

When the eastern people have no male issue, they 
frequently marry their daughters to their slaves, and the 
same practice appears to have obtained among the He- 
brews, as we read in I. Chron. ii. 34, 35. " Now She- 
shan had no sons, but daughters, and Sheshan had a 
slave, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha, and Sheshan 
gave his daughter to Jarha, his slave, to wife." In 
Barbary, the rich people when childless, have been known 



31 

to purchase young slaves, to educate them in their own 
faith, and sometimes to adopt them as their own children. 
The greatest men of the Ottoman empire are well known 
to have been slaves, brought up in the Seraglio ; and the 
Mameluke sovereigns of Egypt were originally slaves. 
Thus the advancement of the Hebrew captive, Joseph, 
to be viceroy of Egypt, and of Daniel, another Hebrew 
slave, to be the chief minister of state in Babylon, cor- 
responds with the modern usages of the East. 

From the foregoing observations, I presume it will be 
readily admitted that the laws of Moses fully legalized sla- 
very. The system of slavery is interwoven into the whole 
of the Mosaic economy. All the precepts of that institu- 
tion, both civil and religious, abound with allusions and 
references to it. Even the decalogue, or ten command- 
ments, which were inscribed upon the tables of stone by 
the finger of God, give their explicit sanction to this 
system. Two of the ten commandments are what is 
termed slave laws. One of them is designed to regulate 
the conduct of the master towards the slave on the 
Sabbath, and the other regulates the conduct of a Jewish 
citizen towards the slave of his neighbour. If slavery, 
thus regulated by law, was morally wrong, was a crime 
of the deepest dye, under that dispensation, God could 
not have countenanced it. 

The Abolitionists assert that slavery is unqualifiedly 
condemned in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah. In this 
chapter the Prophet openly, boldly, and sharply, reproved 
the Jews for their wickedness and hypocrisy, and par- 
ticularly for their formality in worship. But it cannot be 
reasonably supposed that he reproved them for observing, 
in a proper and becoming manner, the laws and institu- 
tions of Moses. At the time the Prophet addressed the 
nation, not one of the slave laws had been repealed, they 
were all in full force. It is unreasonable, therefore, to 
suppose, that the Prophet utterly condemned what God 
by Moses had established. 

The passage to which the Abolitionists refer, reads as 
follows : — " Is not this the fast that I have chosen 1 to 



32 

loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy bur- 
dens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break 
every yoke." (Isaiah I. viii. 6.) It is not absolutely 
certain that the Prophet had any allusion whatever to 
slavery, in his remarks as above quoted. If he alluded 
to slavery among- other thing's, he must have referred to 
the abuse of the institution of slavery, and not to the 
institution itself as established by law. It is, however, 
probable that the Jews had disregarded the laws of 
slavery among other acts of oppression and vnckedness, 
and had drawn upon themselves the just displeasure of 
God. Indeed, in the third verse of this chapter, there is 
a complaint of this kind. The Prophet charged the Jews 
with violating one of the slave laws, by exacting labour 
from their servants on the days of their public fasts, 
which was an express violation of the direction of Moses. 
The best Commentators suppose the Prophet alluded, 
principally, in the passage above quoted, to the eccle- 
siastical oppression and tyranny, which, at that time, 
prevailed in the Jewish church. Jesus Christ referred 
to the same burdens in the remarks to his disciples, as 
recorded in Matthew xxiii. 3. " For they bind heavy 
burdens, and grievous to be borne, and lay them on 
men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them 
with one of their fingers." These heavy burdens were 
the traditions which the ecclesiastical rulers added to the 
law of Moses, and called by their own writers the strokes 
of the Pharisees, as being such as made the service of 
God burdensome. These traditions were enforced by 
the sanction of penal laws, such as fines and confiscations, 
and even by casting multitudes into prison, and detaining 
them for a long time in filthy dungeons. However 
heavily these burdens oppressed the people, the eccle- 
siastical rulers would not move them with one of their 
fingers. They enforced the observance of these tradi- 
tions without mercy, even against those w^ho were the 
most severely and cruelly pressed by them. At the 
same time, the Jewish nation abounded in wickedness of 
almost every description. Under these circumstances 



33 

the pungeiit and emphatic lang-uag-e of the Prophet was 
highly appropriate. " Is not this the fast that I have 
chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the 
heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and 
that ye break every yoke." 

Thus it appears that the Abolitionists can derive no 
authority, from either the law or the prophets, in justifi- 
cation of their doctrine. I feel no hesitation in saying, 
that there is not a passage in the Old Testament, which, 
upon any fair construction, can be adduced in support of 
their wild and headlong course. But what shall be said of 
those learned divines, who affirm that the law of Moses 
never sanctioned slavery ? It is highly probable that these 
reverend gentlemen never examined the Bible on the 
subject, and that they have hazarded their reputation for 
honesty and integrity, by affirming slavery to be inconsist- 
ent with the laws of God, under the Mosaic dispensation, 
when, at the same time, they had never examined the 
laws of God on the subject. How applicable to such 
men is the maxim of our Lord ; — " If the blind lead the 
blind, they will both fall into the ditch." 

It may, however, be very justly said, that the laws of 
slavery to which we have referred, are all contained in 
the Old Testament, and were given to the Jews, and, 
therefore, have no reference to us under the gospel age. 
It is granted that the lav/s of Moses respecting slavery 
are not in force now, and especially are not binding upon 
Gentile converts to Christianity. But still these laws 
have an indirect bearing upon the subject. They esta- 
blished slavery among the Jews. The Jews, therefore, 
legally held slaves during the personal ministry of our 
Lord. Slavery, then, existed among the Jews when 
Christianity was established. It also existed among the 
Greeks and Romans when Christianity was planted 
among the pagan nations. Under these circumstances, 
we turn to the New Testament, and inquire into the 
teachings of Jesus Christ and his Apostles on this subject. 
Jesus Christ during his public ministry never interfered 
with political or civil questions. He but seldom, if ever, 



34 

touched upon the subject of private rights. He left 
these matters for the adjustment of civil rulers. He 
taught all men to love one another, to respect each others 
rights, to submit to each other ; to show all fidelity, to be 
obedient, humble and meek ; and to know that his king- 
dom was not of this world. 

The Apostles, however, in some respects, pursued a 
different course. Several important questions appear to 
have been settled by them, with which Jesus Christ but 
seldom, if ever, meddled. 

1st. They fully recognized civil government as an ordi- 
nance of God ; in other words, that it is the will of God 
that men should not live as the beasts of the field, with- 
out control ; but that they should be formed into societies 
regulated by laws, and that the laws should be executed 
by magistrates appointed for that purpose. The particular 
forms of government they left to the wisdom of men to 
frame, and to nations to regulate; but what the spirit of the 
government should be, they have plainly indicated. What 
kind of government and rulers are intended, the Apostles 
thus particularly specify: Romans, xiii. 1, 3, 4 ; 1 Peter, 
ii. 14. " They are not a terror to good works, but to 
evil. Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise 
of the same ; for he is the minister of God to thee for 
good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he 
beareth not the sword in vain ; for he is the minister of 
God, an avenger to execute wrath, sent by him for the 
punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that 
do well." They are God's ministers attending to this 
very thing ; that is, their talents and their time are wholly 
employed in this great and good work. Such are the 
principles of government laid down in the New Testa- 
ment, and such the duties which it prescribes to the 
rulers and magistrates of nations. 

But Christianity does not confine its injunctions to one 
part of the community, and leave the rest to act as they 
please : it addresses itself likewise with equal energy to 
the people^ and binds on their consciences the obligations 
of subjection and obedience. Subjects are taught to be 



35 

submissive and obedient to the higher powers ; to pray for 
them ; to fear God and honour the king; to give unto 
CcBsar the things that are Casar^s ; to render tribute to 
whom tribute is due ; custom to custom ; J ear to whom 
fear ; honour to whom honour ; and to do all this, not 
merely because the civil laws require it, and for fear of 
punishment from men, but for conscience-sake, and in 
obedience to the laws of God. (Matt. xxii. 21 ; Rom. xiii. 
1, 2, 5, 6, 7 ; 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2 ; Tit. iii. 1 ; 1 Peter ii. 13, 15.) 
These injunctions are highly reasonable, and exactly corre- 
spond with the nature and state of thing's. If the members 
of a community refuse to honour and obey the divine ordi- 
nance, to be subject to government, to give high respect to 
rulers, or to pay them tribute, — and all this, not from 
fear of punishment, but for conscience-sake, it must be 
allowed by eveiy rational man, that they resist an ordi- 
nance of God, — an ordinance that is both reasonable and 
beneficial, and deservedly receive to themselves condem- 
nation. 

2. The Apostles expressly taught that, by becoming a 
Christian, a man did not abolish nor change his civil rights. 
The civil state which a man was in before his conversion, 
is not altered by that conversion, nor does the grace of 
God absolve him from any claims which either the state 
or his neighbour may have on him. This was a rule of 
conduct which the Apostle says was ordained in all the 
churches. " But as God has distributed to every man, as 
the Lord has called every man, so let him walk : and so / 
ordain in all the churches. Is any man called being circum- 
cised ? let him not become uncircumcised. Circumcision is 
nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the 
commandments of God. Let every man abide in the same 
calling wheiein he was called. Art thou called being a 
slave 1 care not for it, but if thou mayest be made free, 
use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a 
slave, is the Lord's free man : likewise, also, he that is 
called, being free, is Christ's slave.'' (1. Cor. vii. 17, 22.) 

The rule which the Apostle here lays down, and 
which was established in all the churches, and is still in 



36 

force, is one expressly in point, and touches the question 
at issue. The law of Moses leg-alized a certain descrip- 
tion of slavery among- the Jews. Under the dispensation 
of the Gospel, which immediately succeeded the Mosaic 
economy, the Apostle established a rule that the civil 
condition of the slave and his master, by embracing 
Christianity, was not chang-ed, but that this civil condi- 
tion of slave and his master was still to continue, even 
should they both become members of the same church. 
And the same rule applied to the slave and his master 
who was converted to the Christian faith, either among* 
the Greeks or the Romans. And the same rule is also 
applicable to the slave and his master now, in this or any 
other country. 

Hence the New Testament, and especially the apos- 
tolic Epistles, abound with directions for the reg-ulation 
of the conduct of the slave and his master towards each 
other. Thus, slaves were enjoined, as a necessary part 
of relig-ion, to obey and serve their masters with all proper 
respect, fidelity and diligence, not purloining, not answer- 
ing again, with good will doing service as unto the Lord, 
and not unto men ; knowing whatsoever good thing any 
man doeth, that shall he receive of the Lord, whether he 
be bond or free. These things, when really believed and 
duly considered, will have much stronger influence to 
engage them to a faithful and cheerful discharge of their 
duty, than mere custom, or the law of the countiy ; for it 
will be observed, that the Apostle enjoins submission and 
obedience on the part of the slave to his master, not only 
as a civil, but also as a religious duty. He expressly 
enjoins this submission and obedience as a necessary part 
of his religious duty. On the contrary, masters are 
required to give their slaves that which is just and equal, 
forbearing threatening, knowing that they have a Master 
in heaven, and with him there is no respect of persons. 
These obligations are also bound upon the master, not 
merely as a civil, but as a religious duty, the ob- 
servance of which constitutes a necessary part of his 
obedience to God. Eph. vi. 5, 9 ; Col. iii. 22, 25 ; iv. 1 ; 
1 Tim.vi. 1, 8; Titus, ii. 9, IL) 



37 

If these relative duties between the slave and his 
master were duly observed, the horrors of slavery wou.ld 
for ever cease. Altliough it was not the province of 
Christianity to put a period to the condition of slavery, 
yet by her wise and humane regulations she has mitigated 
its evils, and rendered the condition of the slave tolerable. 
3. The Apostle Paul entered his stiong protest against 
those who taught a different doctrine from that which we 
have stated. It was a doctrine of the pharisaic Jews, 
that proselytes were released from all antecedent, civil, 
and even natural relations : and it is highly probable that 
some of the Jewish converts might carry the same prin- 
ciple into the Christian community, and teach that, by the 
profession of Christianity, slaves were emancipated from 
their Christian masters. In opposition to this false notion, 
the same great Apostle required that all who were under 
the yoke of servitude, be taught to yield due obedience to 
their masters, and animadverts with great severity upon 
those false teachers, who from mercenary views, taught 
a different doctrine. " Let as many slaves as are under 
the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, 
that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. 
And they that have believing masters, let them not despise 
them, because they are brethren, but rather do them 
service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers 
of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. If any 
man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome 
words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to 
the doctrine which is according to godliness ; he is proud, 
knowing nothing, but doubting about questions and strifes 
of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, and evil 
surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds 
and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness : 
from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with con- 
tentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into 
this world, and it is certain that w^e can carry nothing 
out. And having food and raiment let us be content 
therewith." (L Tim. vi. 1,8.) 

The doctrine which was inculcated by the false teach- 



38 

ers, and reprobated by ihe Apostle, appears to be the 
same as that set forth by the Abolitionists in their " De- 
claration.^' They state in that document, " That all 
those laws which are now in force, admitting- the rig-ht of 
slavery, are before God utterly null and void." By this 
sweeping remark, which is a cardinal doctrine of the 
Abolitionists, they at a blow cut the slave loose from all 
the moral and religious obligations of the Bible to obey 
the master^ and charge the master with the crime of 
man-stealing, which is worthy of death, for detaining 
him in a condition of servitude. The doctrine of the 
Abolitionists, and the doctrine of the false teachers in the 
apostolic age, are the same. They both absolve the 
slave from all moral and religious obligations of submis- 
sion and obedience to his master, and they both lead 
directly on to a civil war. This doctrine excites the 
prejudice of the slave against his master, and the pre- 
judice of the master against the abolitionist who was the 
author of the mischief^ and who by the propagation of 
his incendiary doctrine, has excited the rebellion of the 
slave. 

The course which has been pursued by the Abolition- 
ists, has already produced those fierce and acrimonious 
disputes, to which the Apostle alludes in describing the 
dreadful consequences of the inflammatory doctrine the 
false teachers propagated in his day. If these fiery con- 
tentions continue to spread as they have commenced, we 
may well tremble for the fate of our country. It will soon 
be involved in all the horrors of a civil war — our wives and 
children will be massacred — our fields will be covered 
with the slain — and the fairest portions of our country 
will be drenched in the blood of our fellow-citizens. 

I deprecate the measures to which some have resorted 
to arrest the progress of this false doctrine ; they are of a 
highly dangerous character, and too frequently involve 
the innocent with the guilty. The Apostle has given us 
a more excellent rule, and a more effectual mode of 
arresting the progress of these clerical incendiaries : 
" From such," says the Aposde, *' withdraw thyself." 



39 

Let those societies over whom such pastors preside, that 
is, pastors who have embraced and are propagating- the 
doctrine of the Abolitionists, or who are secretly abetting- 
and aiding the apostles of this Society, immediately dis- 
miss them. And if the Society neglect, or refuse, to do 
this, let the minority of the Society do their duty ; let 
them withdraw from such a man, agreeable to the direc- 
tion of the Apostle, and refuse their support to such a 
ministry. The clergy must be taught that the quesdon 
of slavery, as it exists in this country, is a political and 
not a religious question, and that it must be settled upon 
the floor of Congress, and in the halls of legislation, and 
not in pulpits and ecclesiastical councils. *' Render unto 
Csesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God 
the things that are God's." Political questions should be 
decided by political rulers, and religious questions by 
religious rulers. 

If slavery is regarded as a moral and civil evil in this 
country, the Bible points out the remedy, and the mode 
by which the freedom of the slaves should be effected. 
It is by redeeming them with money, by paying a fair 
equivalent for their value. In this manner the Hebrews 
freed their kinsmen from bondage, when they were sold 
as slaves to the surroundino- nations. And the same 
mode was pursued by the primitive Christians. It is 
supposed that the Apostle alluded to this custom in his 
first Epistle to the Corinthians, where he asks the ques- 
tion, " Have ye been bought with a price ?" (vii. 23.) 
That the charity of Christians was employed to buy their 
brethren out of slavery, we learn from the apologies of 
Justin Martyr, and Tertullian, who tells us " that the 
offerings of Christians at the Sacrament, were amongst 
others employed for that use." In this way Christians 
may exercise their benevolence without invading the 
rights of individuals, or disturbing the public tranquillity. 



THE END. 



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